Heart of America Region 17U Power 5

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In my State Line Tidbits last week I shared I would take a glance at the AES [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Rankings and see where teams stand. The AES rankings are valuable but don't include all matches a team may play in. They include primarily tournaments played using the system plus matches entered by teams on an individual basis. For example, they don't include standings from tournaments using any of the other entering/scheduling programs such as SportsWrench or TM2. Nonetheless, it's a popular system that shows how teams stack up in the country and region. Today we take a look at the 17U HOA top 5 teams. I'm doing things a little differently than I did when introducing Gateway in Missouri. I looked at just region results. Today I'm going through the national rankings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 17 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sitting atop of the overall 17U rankings is [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] with a record of 59-6. They have numerous top-three finishes in qualifiers including winning the Lone Star Classic in April. They also had a respectable showing at Triple Crown walking away in 17th place. We talk about this team often but the play of [player_tooltip player_id='152821' first='Lauren' last='Wright'] has been a bonus this season, along with the addition of [player_tooltip player_id='119704' first='Cy' last='Rae Campbell']. The team grabbed their Open bid at Northern Lights. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 17 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Not too far behind [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] in the 3rd spot nationally is [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']']. They have an impressive 49 wins to 6 defeats in the system. This is another team full of talented players with defensive standouts [player_tooltip player_id='119694' first='Mya' last='Bolton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='152134' first='Abby' last='Boyd']. They own three top-seven showings in qualifiers and a 33rd-place finish at Triple Crown. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] qualified in Open in their backyard at Show Me. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pohaku 17 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>38-20 is Pohaku, who sits 28th nationally on AES. They traveled out West to earn a trip to the Open party at Nationals. [player_tooltip player_id='119718' first='Ava' last='Spachek'] has been solid on the pin along with [player_tooltip player_id='261103' first='Ava' last='Anderson'] from the setter position. This squad also had a 6th-place finish in Indy and 11th at the Show Me Qualifier. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Missouri Jrs. 17 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Missouri Jrs. has opened a lot of eyes this season and comes in at 51st nationally with a 37-10 record. They are set to compete at Nationals in the Liberty division after earning their bid at Show Me in April. This was after coming up just short in March at MEQ with a third-place finish. They followed up show me and attempted to move up to USA but ended out of bid range at 13th. [player_tooltip player_id='124227' first='Izzy' last='Herrbold'] and [player_tooltip player_id='150053' first='Ava' last='Reeser'] are a couple of defensive standouts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>417 Juniors 17 National Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rounding out the top five at 59th is 417 Juniors. They have a record of 44-13. They have a USA bid for Nationals. They are looking to play in both AAU and USAV Nationals after grabbing an entry at the Black Brawl event in March. They also were very competitive in qualifiers finishing 4th and 5th in the USA Division in a couple of tries. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='150036' first='Reagan' last='Baade'] has been good in the back row. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->